W R.

I booked a car through Travelocity at Easirent at Leeds-Bradford Airport. They are situated a short distance from the airport but provided a shuttle, which was OK. However when I got to their site, I was subjected to a 'hard sell' ordeal by their salesman. He insisted that I had to purchase collision damage waiver insurance from them, even though I was paying with AAA Mastercard which provides coverage when you pay with the card. (I provided a copy of the documentation from their website but the Easirent salesperson would not accept it). This basically tripled the cost of the rental, so I said I would just cancel it, but they said that if I did that then at this point it was non-refundable. Being now away from the airport and without a phone I finally agreed to pay for the insurance. I then discovered that they required a 'deposit' of 1500 GBP on my credit card to cover any possible damage (after just paying for the CDW insurance) and they also took 95 GBP to cover the cost of gas, to be refunded if I returned the vehicle with a full tank. When I objected, the salesman offered a variety of 'packages' that basically involved my paying extra for the rental to get the 'deposit' reduced. He also told me that there was a charge for mileage above 100 miles/day, even though my booking specifically said unlimited mileage. Throughout the exchange the salesman was condescending - even going so far as to mention that I must be 'tired after my flight' when I challenged the extra charges. I did not receive any paperwork at the site as they are 'just electronic' - however the only email I got was a 'Welcome to the Easirent Loyalty Program'. Somebody there obviously has sense of humor! Amazingly, when I returned the car and refused to leave without any paperwork, they managed to print out the contract that I should have been given at the outset. I have rented cars in England on several other occasions and have never had a situation like this - it was very unpleasant and cast a shadow over the entire trip. I returned the car a day early - I did not want to be rushing for a flight if there were any problems - and while waiting I overheard other customers with prebooked rentals being subjected to the same determined 'upsell' by the salesperson on duty. (As one disgruntled lady commented - 'That's sharp practice'). Will definitely not rent from them again.